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/A D FA LLS. 



Seeds for the ginseng crop are gathereJ from the 

 forest for starting the beds, but they are becoming more 

 scarce every year, owing to the fact that collectors will 

 gather it before the seeds are fully matured, although 

 there is a law in this state prohibiting the digging of 

 ginseng before September. 



Wallace Bros., of Slatesville, N. C, buy large quan- 

 tities of ginseng from root diggers every year, paying 

 from $3 to $3.25 per pound. It grows in most fantastic 

 shapes, and is valued according to size of roots, there- 

 fore it is never cut or split. — L. Greenlee, N. C. 



Collecting and Pressing Plants. — Much of the 

 pleasure of the studying of our native plants lies in the 

 making of an herbarium. The general directions for 

 drying plants are given in the Horticulturist's Rule- 

 Book, as follows : 



Collect samples of all parts of the plant, lower and 

 upper, leaves, stem, flowers, fruit, and, in most cases, 

 roots. In small species, those two feet high or less, 

 the whole plant should be taken. Of larger plants, 

 take portions about a foot long. Press the plants between 

 papers or "driers." These driers may be any thick 

 porous paper, as blotting paper or carpet paper, or, for 

 plants which are not succulent or very juicy, newspapers 

 in several thicknesses may be used. It is best to place 

 the specimens in shoets of thin paper— grocer's tea- 

 paper is good — and place these sheets between the driers. 

 Many specimens can be placed in a pile. On top the 

 pile place a short board and a weight of twenty or thirty 

 pounds. Change the driers every day. The plants are 

 dry when they become brittle and when no moisture can 

 be felt by the fingers. Some plants will dry in two or 

 three days while others require as many weeks. If the 

 pressing is properly done the specimens will come out 

 smooth and flat, and the leaves will usually be green, 

 although some plants always turn black in drying. 



Specimens are usually mounted on single sheets of 

 white paper of the stiffness of very heavy writing paper, 

 or thin Bristol board. The standard size of sheet is 

 ii>^xi6^ inches. The plants may be pasted down per- 

 manently and entirely to the sheet, or they may be held 

 on by strips of gummed paper. In the former case, 

 Denison's fish glue is the best gum to use. But one 

 species or variety should be placed on a sheet. The 

 species of a genus are collected into a genus cover. This 

 cover is a folded sheet of heavy manilla or other firm 

 paper, and the standard size, when folded, is laxie.'A 

 inches. On the lower left hand corner of this cover the 

 name of the genus is written. A label should accom- 

 pany each specimen upon the separate sheets. The 

 specimens are now ready to be filed away on shelves in 

 a horizontal position. If insects attack the specimens, 

 they may be destroyed by fumes of bisulphide of car- 

 bon or chloroform. In this case it is necessary to place 

 the specimens in a tight box and then insert the liquid. 



Care of Perennials. — The hardy perennials and 

 spring-flowering bulbs upon which we of the northern 



states have to depend for our May and June flowers, re- 

 quire some care in the fall, so that they may do them- 

 selves justice in their season of bloom. They richly re- 

 pay all labor bestowed on them, for a great many beau- 

 tiful perennials are perfectly hardy when slightly pro- 

 tected during the winter. This is especially true of 

 those varieties that have evergreen foliage. Those that 

 die down to their roots will bear a far larger amount of 

 neglect. 



Yet it is not severe cold that kills plants hardy in our 

 climate, but alternate freezing and thawing in bare 

 ground. Before protecting a flower bed, study the sur- 

 roundings, for one bed may be situated so as to enjoy 

 the protection of a snow-drift till the middle of April, 

 while another, close by, may lie bare half the winter. 

 Every one must observe for himself, and vary the treat- 

 ment according to the individual needs of each bed and 

 plant. 



September or October is the best time to divide and 

 to plant all bulbous roots, such as paeonies, lilies and 

 irises ; and while professional florists hold that it is also 

 the best time to divide and reset all perennials, I do not 

 think that perennials with fibrous roots become rooted 

 firmly enough to stand a severe winter, in the northern 

 states at least. All shrubs and bulbs bloom much finer 

 in the spring if they have a generous supply of some 

 kind of manure the previous autumn. Before freezing 

 weather sets in, spring bulbs and plants that die to the 

 roots need a coating of stable manure or forest leaves ; 

 but those that retain their leaves are apt to rot if so 

 treated. 



The ground should be leveled so that there will be no 

 depression ; for it is sure death to most plants to have 

 water stand either on or over them. And if the amateur , 

 is not careful he will find, in spring, some of his most 

 cherished pets dead from this cause, in spite of careful 

 covering. If it is impossible to obtain stable manure, 

 use commercial fertilizers, wood ashes, house slops or 

 anything else one's wits suggest as plant food. 



Evergreen boughs, arranged so as not to be blown 

 away in a bare time, are excellent for covering evergreen 

 perennials. Some florists advise cold-frames. But 

 neither cold-frames nor evergreen boughs are always 

 within the reach of women gardeners at just the right 

 time, and they sigh for a substitute. I think I have 

 found it in small, low boxes, with tight bottoms. These 

 can be got by most village people by asking their grocery- 

 man for them. 



These boxes answer all the requirements of a cold- 

 frame, and plants come out from under them smiling 

 and green in the spring if they are removed gradually, 

 as all coverings should be. And they are extremely 

 convenient where the garden is small and plants with 

 evergreen leaves are here, there and everywhere. If a 

 little box is turned over a plant just before snow, one 

 need not fret if the ground lies bare half the time.- — 

 C. H., Sanford, Maine. 



